George Washington University Athletics
GW Men's Hoops Visits Top 10 Virginia on Friday
11/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GW Notes at Virginia (11/21/14) 
More GW Men's Basketball Media Coverage
WHO: GW Men's Basketball (2-0)
WHAT: 2014-15 Game #3 at #9 Virginia Cavaliers (3-0)
WHERE: John Paul Jones Arena (14,593), 295 Massie Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903
WHEN: Friday, November 21 at 7 p.m.
VIDEO: ESPN3/WatchESPN (Byron Kerr, Pete Strickland) | What is WatchESPN?
AUDIO: FederalNewsRadio.com, 1500 AM, GW IMG Sports Network via TuneIn (George Wallace) | WRGW Sports
STATS:
TWITTER: @GW_MBB | #RaiseHigh
INSTAGRAM: GW_MBB
FACEBOOK: GWMensBasketball
PROMOTION: GW Alumni reception at 5 p.m. in the Abbott Center Dining Room of the Darden School of Business
WASHINGTON - GW men's basketball faces its toughest test of the young 2014-15 season as it makes the short trip south to Charlottesville, Virginia, to battle No. 9 Virginia on Friday night. Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the contest will be carried live on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
GW (2-0) continues to receive votes in both national Top 25 polls after an impressive opening weekend to the 2014-15 campaign with a 92-40 home rout of Grambling State on Friday, a 52-point margin which matched the program's largest victory ever against a Division I opponent, followed by a wire-to-wire 70-53 road win at Rutgers on Sunday.
The Colonials' core four juniors of Patricio Garino (15.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 spg), Kevin Larsen (11.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg), Joe McDonald (11.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Kethan Savage (15.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg) have led the way at the onset of the season. The quartet has combined to average 53.0 points on 52 percent shooting (38-73), 29.0 rebounds, 12.0 assists and 5.5 steals in GW's opening two victories, with Garino scoring a game-high 21 points against Grambling State and Savage recording his first collegiate double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds at Rutgers.
McDonald and Larsen will square off against former scholastic teammates on Friday. McDonald and Virginia forward Darion Atkins both played at The Landon School, while Larsen and Cavaliers' guard Justin Anderson were classmates at Montrose Christian.
Friday's match-up is the front-end of a home-and-home series in which GW is scheduled to host Virginia at the Charles E. Smith Center on Nov. 16, 2015. It will mark the first regular-season meeting between the programs since 1984, though the two teams met in the 2004 Postseason NIT with the Cavaliers advancing past the Colonials, 79-66. Friday's meeting will be GW's first-ever visit to John Paul Jones Arena, which opened prior to the 2006-07 season.
According to GW records, the all-time series is tied, 23-23, with the Colonials looking to snap a six-game series skid and earn their first victory against the Cavaliers since a 73-67 win at the Smith Center in January 1974. GW's last road win in the series came in Dec. 1968 (98-84), a span of five visits to Charlottesville.
Virginia (3-0) is coming off an equally impressive opening weekend with a pair of 28-point victories at James Madison (79-51) on Friday and at home against Norfolk State (67-39) on Sunday, followed by an easy 75-55 home win over South Carolina State on Tuesday. Seven Cavaliers are averaging at least 5.0 points led by Anderson's 15.3 points and 10-of-16 shooting beyond the arc. Anthony Gill (11.7 ppg) and Malcolm Brogdon (12.3 ppg) are also averaging in double figures.
The Colonials and Cavaliers both completed banner 2013-14 seasons in the 2014 NCAA Tournament last March. While GW matched the second-most wins in program history with 24 and earned at at-large bid to the Big Dance, Virginia equaled its school record with 30 victories and won both the ACC regular season and tournament titles en route to a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16.
A victory would mark GW's first against a top-10 opponent since upsetting No. 11/9 Michigan State, 96-83, in the 2004 BB&T Classic, and mark the program's first road victory against a ranked foe since a win at No. 1 Massachusetts, 86-76, in Feb. 1996.
